"The PFA does not represent players when they have broken the law and been convicted on non-football matters."- Gordon Taylor in 2009 following Marlon King's release after a prison sentence for sexual assault & ABH

Lewry's often been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was interesting to hear RMJ write about him either last year or the one before, and say that he simply doesn't like the limelight. While others craved England A tours over the winter, he was quite happy to be down his local with a pint and a game of darts. He neither craved England Tests nor one-day games.

Lewry's often been in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it was interesting to hear RMJ write about him either last year or the one before, and say that he simply doesn't like the limelight. While others craved England A tours over the winter, he was quite happy to be down his local with a pint and a game of darts. He neither craved England Tests nor one-day games.

Well spotted, Dick (sorry couldn't resist). I read that article and found it pretty revealing.

Lewry has been a wonderful bowler for many years. And even now that he's 55 and needs a wheelchair to get to the crease due to his bust knees, he's still a really high class fast-medium swing bowler. Different class to Kirtley, who got a couple of Tests. And he gets top-order batsmen out regularly.

After ye crims played against Sussex on the 2001 tour of England Gilchrist said something along the lines of "well it's taken us 3 months but we've finally faced a really good bowler."

Yeah, the first time I saw him bowl was in his opening spell in this game. His eventual figures were merely adaquete, but in his opening spell he was quite sensational. Swung the ball as much as I've ever seen anyone swing it. All right, it was an evening, but it was a sunny July evening which offered no more assistance than a sunny July afternoon would.

I thought "jeesh, this chap can bowl" - but he was already 30 by that time, so I knew that was basically that as far as anything else was concerned. Not long after I noticed he hardly played much OD cricket, then eventually I read that RMJ piece, which explained a lot.

Along with the fact that Lewry, as I say, has often bowled at his best on those not-extraordinarily-common occasions when England's seam attack has been going well in the home Tests. And has had a few injuries.

He's not a superman by any stretch - he's had his ineffective, and downright expensive, seasons as well as his brilliant ones. But all career, clearly, he's been the sort of bowler who when on-song, which has certainly not been irregular, you walk out to bat hoping rather than expecting.